


Method Acting

by oogenesis



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Dates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 11:52:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8712670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oogenesis/pseuds/oogenesis
Summary: Yuto has a favor to ask Yugo, and Yugo goes along with it surprisingly well.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Areumdawonhho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areumdawonhho/gifts).



> Apologies in advance for this being so short! In October I was swamped with academic difficulties, and in November I was swamped with NaNoWriMo, so I didn't really have the time to make it the slow-burn length that a proper fake dating fic deserves. I did however try to condense all the best things about the genre into one single date and I hope it worked!
> 
> Additional apologies if the busy-ness of my life impacted the quality of the writing... I did my best to deliver a good solid fic despite that ;w;

Yuto found Yugo at lunch, which was admittedly not hard - he always ate perched on the seat of his motorcycle, out in the parking lot. "Yugo," said Yuto seriously, leaning against the bike. "I have a favor to ask."

They'd spoken maybe three times before. Yugo swallowed his mouthful of food and said, "Yeah?"

"So earlier," said Yuto, "I was hanging out with Shun and Ruri, right, and Ruri had on new earrings. Dangly feather things, really pretty, I couldn't stop looking at them. Only, Shun _noticed_ me looking, and somehow thought I had a crush on her -"

"You don't?" blurted out Yugo before he could stop himself. Beautiful, gentle Ruri - _everyone_ had a crush on her -

"Yugo." Yuto fixed him with a serious intent gaze, his eyeliner black and sharp-edged. "I'm gay."

"Oh." Yugo swallowed. "Couldn't you just tell him that?"

"He already knows," snorted Yuto, "I think he just forgot. So anyway I _told_ him that, but in the panic of the moment -" (which Yugo could understand; Kurosaki could be terrifying when it came to his sister) "- I also blurted out that I'm taken, which is a lie, and then I said the first name off the top of my head."

Yugo slurped up the last of his Thermosed noodles. "Who's that?"

Yuto's gaze fixed on him. "You."

Yugo almost choked. "What?"

"I told him I was dating you," sighed Yuto. "I think it was because I'd just passed by your motorcycle, so you were at the back of my mind. Anyway, he didn't buy it -" he snorts "- which makes sense -"

"Hey," protested Yugo, who had the vague feeling he was being insulted.

"- so for him to buy it, I need to go on a date with you and send him pics." After a moment's thought he added, "Please."

There was a moment of silence.

"So..." said Yugo slowly, "we have to go out. Together."

"Just once," said Yuto. "I think that'll be enough."

"And - when?"

"Are you free tonight?" asked Yuto. With a sigh, he added, "I don't want to put up with Shun breathing down my neck any longer than I have to."

That made sense. "Tonight's good," said Yugo, trying to pretend he was just scheduling an ordinary meetup, instead of - of a _date_. "Where should we go?"

Yuto shrugged and looked away, looking faintly embarrassed. It gave him the look of an oversize bedraggled crow. "I don't really... know any places. I mean, you probably know more -"

"Ice cream," said Yugo without thinking. "Well, I mean, dinner first. But then ice cream."

Yuto seemed to think about it. "Ice cream," he said. "Yeah, that... that sounds good."

"What, have goths never heard of ice cream?"

Yuto shoved at him with his shoulder. "Shut up."

"I never shut up," said Yugo promptly. "If you're going to take me out on a date you have to realize that. I am a royal pain in the ass."

"So I've heard."

"You've - hey, who's saying that about me?!" Yugo started up off the seat of his motorcycle, ready to fight.

Yuto fixed him with a cool stare. "You just said it yourself, why are you so offended?"

"It's different." Yugo sat back and crossed his arms and definitely wasn't pouting. "I'm _joking_. Were the people you were talking to joking?"

Yuto remained tactfully silent.

"Blehhh. There you go, see."

Yuto looked thoughtful, then, "Can _I_ insult you, if I'm joking?"

"The hell if -"

"Would you let someone you were dating?"

Yugo was about to vehemently deny it, but then he considered. Joking insults, volleying banter, quick and comfortable in the back-and-forth - "Well, yeah, I guess," he huffed. "But we're not dating."

Yuto coughed meaningfully.

"All right. Fine. For one evening only you get to insult me, if you're joking. But only if I get to do it too, you big -" He couldn't think of an appropriately clever insult on the spot so he changed the subject. "What time?"

"We can meet up at 6 pm?" offered Yuto.

"All right." Yugo thought about it, then said, "Okay, since you don't know where we're going -"

"You don't have to put it that way -"

"- I'll lead the way, you can meet me in front of the electronics store and then we can go from there."

Yuto nodded. "Sounds like a plan." He checked his watch and said, "Lunch is over soon, I have to go. So -" He made a wavering motion almost as if he had been about to stick out his hand in a handshake but then decided it would be weird. "See you then?"

Yugo nodded. "Yeah."

Then Yuto was gone.

.

 

Yugo decided to be fashionably late. This was partly a deliberate decision and partly an unintentional one - as in, he'd looked at the clock, momentarily panicked, and then calmed down at the remembrance that it was far cooler to be late than on time. Yuto was waiting at the appointed spot, his arms crossed.

"Hey, babe," said Yugo, and roared to a stop right in front of him. "Want a ride?"

"You're late," said Yuto.

"Only a bit. Besides, you get to ride my sweet motorcycle." Yugo tossed him a helmet. "No one can resist the sweet motorcycle."

Yuto caught the helmet and turned it over in his hands, a little uncertainly.

"Well - put it on."

"All right," sighed Yuto, and put on the helmet, and swung a leg over the seat of the motorcycle. "You're still late."

"I can't believe you're still holding that against me even after I called you babe and offered you a sweet motorcycle ride," sighed Yugo. "Sawatari could never resist. Here, hold on like this -"

Yuto's arms came up around him from behind. "You dated Sawatari?"

"For a while, yeah. He only wanted me for my motorcycle, can you believe? Is your helmet on properly?

"I think so," said Yuto, still a bit uncertaintly.

"All right! Hold on tight, babe," said Yugo, and gunned the engine.

They sped through the darkening city, the sky a smudged twilit gray above them and the lights around them beginning to come alive. Yugo thought he could feel Yuto moving slightly against him as if his head was turning in different directions, looking around - "Nice, isn't it?" he shouted over the roar of the engine.

Yuto shouted something back. It was quite indistinct. The engine was very loud. Yugo's best guess as to what he said was, "It's very nice but isn't this dangerous?"

They stopped at a red light. "Why are _you_ asking me about something being dangerous," Yugo asked pointedly, " _you're_ the one who dresses like such a rebel to begin with? Plus you hang out with Kurosaki." The rumors as to what Kurosaki did in his free time ranged from fistfights to straight-up arson, passing by contract hitman in between. 

All right, if Yugo was honest with himself, half of that was his imagination. But still. The guy was _scary_. And Yuto, who dressed like even more of a punk than Kurosaki did -

"Motorcycles have a high fatality rate, okay?" There was a hint of defensiveness in Yuto's voice, as well as some nervousness. "I'm not -"

"Oh my god," Yugo found himself saying, "you're a _nerd_."

"I'm not -!" At that point the light changed and the rest of Yuto's statement was lost in the roar of Yugo gunning the engine.

When they stopped in the parking lot and got off the motorcycle, Yugo said, "So, you're a nerd."

Yuto huffed and looked away.

"Is this you admitting it?"

"No, this is me thinking this is a pointless conversation," said Yuto.

"Suit yourself," said Yugo, "But you're still a nerd." He took Yuto's hand and Yuto said, "Why are you doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Holding my hand."

"Well - we're on a date."

"A fake one." Yuto's tone seemed almost cautious.

"Method acting," said Yugo, and at Yuto's blank stare said, "You've never heard of method acting?"

"...No..." ventured Yuto.

"You stay in character even offstage so when you actually perform it looks more genuine. We gotta get used to being comfortable around each other. For the pictures. Don't you _know_ anything?"

Yuto was still staring at him, which was very frustrating.

"Right," sighed Yugo, realizing the difference between them. "I dated a theater kid. You didn't. Right."

He set off in the direction of the restaurant; Yuto followed, and didn't let go of his hand. "So, you and Sawatari?"

"Yeah, a while back," said Yugo, then, when Yugo tilted his head and gave him an odd searching look, "What?"

"Nothing," said Yuto, with a dry smile. "I just - I can see it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

They'd reached the restaurant. "Mmm," said Yuto noncommittally, and scanned the menu hanging on the wall. "He's with Yuya now, isn't he?"

"Yep. The big theater couple, pride of the drama department, all that jazz."

"They seem happy together," commented Yuto offhandedly; a little awkwardly. As if he was worried about hurting Yugo's feelings.

Which was nice of him, but the breakup had been on friendly terms and Yugo didn't begrudge Sawatari his new romance. "You've been keeping track?"

Yuto shrugged and looked away, embarrassed. "Well, I just - everyone knows Yuya. You know how it is."

Yugo knew what he meant; everyone loved Yuya as well. "Yeah, I know. What do you think you'll be having?"

"I don't know. Whatever you're having, I suppose."

"The curry rice here is very good," said Yugo, bouncing on his toes.

"That, then."

They didn't talk much while waiting for the food to arrive. Yugo found himself studying Yuto, who was sitting with his chin in his hand, appearing to be idly reading the rest of the menu. He had to admit to himself that in terms of guys to pretend-date, Yuto was a pretty good catch. Spending so much time around the beautiful Kurosaki siblings must have rubbed off on him. His eyes were big and serious and startlingly gray, and the way his face leaned against his hand pushed his cheek up round and soft and moved his lips into a vaguely pouting shape.

Yuto appeared to notice his gaze. "What," he said, taking his chin off his hand.

Yugo hastily pretended to look off something else. "What what?"

"You were staring."

"It's just -"

"What?"

"You're adorable."

Yuto regarded him skeptically.

"It's true! You have these big gray eyes and this soft baby face, you're like a little baby crow with ruffled feathers! It's very cute -"

At that point the food arrived, and Yugo immediately dug in. Yuto took a cautious bite and said, "You really... think I'm cute?"

"Honest," said Yugo, swallowing.

A smile crept over Yuto's face, gentle and shy, and Yugo nearly choked on his next mouthful. "Holy shit. Look at you! Why don't you smile more often, you'd have girls falling all over you left and right! Uh, I mean boys."

"Thank you," said Yuto quietly, and kept eating. After a while, he said, "You're very cute too, you know."

"Of course I am," said Yugo promptly, then threw him a second look. "You really mean that?"

"Yeah," said Yuto. "You just..." He gestured. A couple grains of rice landed on the table. "You react to everything so much. You get so excited about things, and angry about things, and it's. Very cute."

"Aww, thank you!" Yugo couldn't stop the big grin from spreading over his face. "Man, if I'd known you were such a softie under all those spikes -" He couldn't think of the end of the sentence, only he thought it had something to do with him being the one to ask Yuto out instead of the other way around, and he thought that probably wasn't the best topic to bring up.

When they left the restaurant, Yuto was the one to reach for Yugo's hand. At Yugo's look he said, "Method acting, right?"

"That's true," said Yugo. He gave Yuto's hand a squeeze that was meant to be gentle but probably ended up being not so much, given the noise Yuto made. "Oops, sorry."

"So, we're not taking the motorcycle to the ice cream place?"

"Nah," said Yugo breezily. "It's just around the corner -"

"By the way, couldn't you have arranged for us to meet in front of the restaurant?"

Oh. That. That was - "I hadn't decided where we were going yet," said Yugo, too quickly.

"Hmm."

"What's with that look?!"

"You just wanted to impress me with a motorcycle ride, didn't you?"

"Uhh... maybe?" Yugo gave in. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Yuto shook his head, smiling. "Nothing wrong, no."

"What's that smile mean -"

Yuto's eyes suddenly got very wide, looking at a point past Yugo's shoulder. "Yugo," he hissed.

"What -"

They were in the middle of the sidewalk; Yuto pulled Yugo in to up against the wall. In a deadly serious voice he said, "I need you to make out with me right now."

"On the first date?" squeaked Yugo, and then, an octave higher, "In _public_?"

"I saw Shun, just across the street," hissed Yuto. "It's the perfect opportunity. Come on, hurry up -"

"All right," said Yugo, "fine," and pushed Yuto against the wall - Yuto's eyes going a little wide - sucked in a breath, and kissed him.

It was an awkward and messy affair. Their noses were painfully pressed together until Yugo figured out the right angle, and even then Yuto seemed to be unsure of how exactly their lips were supposed to interact with each other. It took a while to get into the rhythm of it - Yuto's hands hovering uncertainly on Yugo's back and then coming down to rest on his waist - but eventually they arrived at a passable makeout session. A rather nice one, in fact.

They pulled apart. Yuto was looking a little breathless, his eyes wide. Yugo said, "Please tell me you didn't have your eyes open because that would be the opposite of convincing."

"Of course not," said Yuto. "That was, um - Do you think he's still there?"

Yugo cast a glance over his shoulder, but couldn't make out any glimpse of a distinctive long coat in the gathering dark. "Doesn't look like it. Not sure, though -"

"Me neither." Yuto stared at him a moment more, then said, "Just in case -"

"Yeah," said Yugo, fumbling, "just in case -"

This time it was better. Yuto, now that he'd apparently gotten over the initial confusion, was a very gentle kisser, almost hesitant, his hands moving gently up to press in between Yugo's shoulder blades. His mouth opened a little, and so did Yugo's, and that was - well, that was electrifying.

When they pulled apart, Yugo said, "Uhhhhhhhhh."

"Me too," said Yuto, even more breathless than last time. "I - uh -" He coughed. "We should probably. Get going. I don't want to know how much attention we've attracted."

"Right," said Yugo, and stepped away from the wall. Yuto rearranged his coat collar and ran his fingers back through his hair, he needed to do that because of how Yugo had kissed him, Yugo decided he would never be over that. They continued on their way, Yugo's head spinning slightly, until the familiar faint sweet smell of ice cream his his nose and he nudged Yuto. "Here it is."

The ice cream shop emanated a warm golden glow into the blue of dusk. They surveyed the flavors together, the great tubs of ice cream an array of creamy pastel-colored swirls.

Yuto was studying the options with the focus of staring at a test. "What are you getting?" Yugo asked him.

"Hmmm. Dark chocolate and strawberry, I think."

"That's it?"

"Why not? What are you getting?"

"Mocha," said Yugo promptly, "and caramel, and cookie dough, and green tea, and mint chocolate chip."

Yuto stared.

"With sprinkles."

"Really."

"I like ice cream, okay!" said Yugo, and Yuto sighed and shook his head and placed his order.

When they left the ice cream store, each holding their various cones, they were still holding hands. It had become a matter of habit at this point. "Where should we go next?" ventured Yuto.

Yugo performed a quick mental calculation. He was good at those. One had to be, as a mechanic. "If we turn around that way, and then around that corner, we should be heading in the direction of where I parked. And by then we'll have finish our ice cream, if we, y’know," he swung Yuto's arm back and forth, "walk slowly, enjoy the sights, all that. Romantic."

"Romantic," echoed Yuto slowly.

It was getting very dark; the last traces of daylight showed only in a muffled blueness around them that was the precursor to complete night. The lights of the city shone in various multicolored and passed slowly by them as they walked, and slowly, Yugo began to notice something was terribly wrong.

"You bite your ice cream," he said.

Yuto paused with his mouth sunken into the ice cream and said, "What?"

"You _bite_ it," said Yugo. "You don't lick it like a sensible person would -" he demonstrated "- you just sink your teeth into it. How do you just do that?"

Yuto shrugged. "I don't know, I... never really thought about it?"

Yugo tried it and immediately jerked back at the heavy, blunt pain in his front teeth from the coldness of it. "Damn! You're pretty badass, I'll give you that."

"Uh... thank you?" said Yuto, and then Yugo noticed a familiar shape up ahead. He pointed and said, "Isn't that Serena?"

It was indeed Serena, her hair tied back, wearing an open jacket over a sports bra and shorts. "Hi, Serena," ventured Yuto.

"Hi," she said, and then, coolly, "Yugo."

"Hey," protested Yugo. "Why are you always so rude to me?"

"Maybe if you hadn't flirted with me via text for days on end while I gave every sign of being uninterested."

"That was a year ago! And I already told you, I got your number mixed up with Rin's!"

Yuto was watching with some confusion. Serena's eyes travelled to their conjoined hands and she said, "On a date?"

"Yes," said Yugo, at the same time Yuto said, "No," and Yugo shoved at him with his shoulder. "Yes, we are on a date," he said.

"I... see," said Serena cautiously, and Yuto said, "What are you doing?"

"Kickboxing class," said Serena, and Yugo noticed the boxing gloves draped over her shoulder. "On my way home now. Hey, good luck with your date, all right?" To Yuto she said, "I don't care about _him_ , but you seem like a nice kid. Hope it works out -" She brushed past them and off into the gathering twilight.

Yuto exhaled. "That was... something," he said.

"Yeah. She's weird. That kickboxing stuff, she _uses_ it on people. I bet she could take on Kurosaki, even."

"I don't doubt it," said Yuto. "Why did you shove me when I said we weren't on a date?"

"Well - if we let slip we weren't, word might get around, right?" said Yugo. "And then Kurosaki would get wind of it and the whole thing would be for nothing. Right?"

"Okay, true," said Yuto. "But don't you think she might have found it weird that you were being so rough with the person you're on a date with?"

"Nah," said Yugo, and took another mouthful of ice cream. "This is Serena we're talking about. She probably thinks it's not true love unless you spar in hand-to-hand combat every other day."

Yuto opened his mouth, closed it, and then said, "Does that have anything to do with the fact that I hear that Hiiragi Yuzu has also been taking kickboxing classes?"

"What?" Yugo turned to stare at him. "You don't think -"

Yuto shrugged, half-smiling. "I'm just getting that impression," he said. "Are you going to finish that ice cream?"

"Damn." Yugo considered it. "Well, that explains why she was so uninterested in me. And - wait, you've finished yours already?"

Yuto shrugged again. The cone in his hand was nibbled down to something almost finished.

"You work fast," said Yugo. He examined his tower of ice cream, wondering how much of it he would be willing to part with, before deciding he was mostly full anyway. "Here you go."

"You don't have any germs, right?" said Yuto apprehensively, and took it.

"You really are a nerd! We were swapping spit just a moment ago!"

"Right," said Yuto, and looked down at the ground. "That's true."

Yugo thought he might be blushing, but the dark made it very hard to tell. He wished it were daylight so he could see more clearly, because Yuto blushing must have been an adorable thing. He had the sudden thought that some day, some other time, when the lighting was better, he was going to make Yuto blush properly, and see for himself.

It was a comfortable thought. 

By the time they reached the motorcycle, Yuto had eaten his way through most of Yugo's ice cream. "Wow," said Yugo, and whistled at the remains of what had once been a towering pile of round packed scoops. "You really packed that all away, didn't you? I didn't put you down as the big eater type."

Yuto looked slightly embarrassed. "I never really... thought about it that way," he said. "I just don't get full easily, I guess."

"You realize you're going to have to compete with me in that department?" said Yugo. "No matter how big an eater you are, I bet I could eat you under the table." He immediately realized how that sounded, and desperately cast around for a change of subject, although Yuto didn't seem to have noticed -

"You have ice cream on your mouth," said Yugo, and before he could stop himself, leaned in and kissed Yuto. The softness of the contact, and the sweetness of the strawberry taste on Yuto's lips, sent a welcome shiver down his spine. Yuto made a tiny soft noise into his mouth, like a little sigh, like a relaxing, and Yugo thought he would just about melt.

When he pulled away he said breathlessly, "There, it's gone now."

"I - I'll bet," said Yuto, who also looked as if he was struggling to breathe. "Can you... do that again? For authenticity."

Yugo wanted to say, _Of course_ , but thought the energy used in that statement could better be expended by kissing Yuto. God, how could someone so sharp and threatening-looking be so _soft_ , gentle ice-cream-sweet lips against his, this was really a great experience going on here...

Yuto moved back and said, "We forgot to take pictures. To send to Shun. That was the whole point of this"

The pictures... he'd entirely forgotten. Yugo dug out his phone and said, "We can still take them now, right? I bet with all that _method acting_ -" here he risked a wink and a kiss blown at Yuto, "- we'll look extra couple-y, won't we?"

"That's... true," said Yuto quietly, pulling out his own phone. He turned on the camera and held it out, putting his other arm around Yugo's shoulders. "Smile for the camera."

Yugo didn't smile for the camera. Instead, he leaned over and kissed Yuto square on the cheek right as the shutter went off, the flash blinding both of them.

"Hey," said Yuto, but without much actual protest in his voice. The two of them leaned over to see the picture.

"Oh my god," said Yugo. "You look so surprised. It's adorable."

"Well, if I look surprised then it's not convincing, is it?"

"No, like - happy surprised. I can totally see him buying it. Were you happy surprised?"

Yuto looked slightly taken aback, then said, "I... suppose I was."

"There you have it," said Yugo, and they took another few pictures, all of them in various poses of affection that felt, to Yugo, bizarrely natural. Yuto looked increasingly happier in each one. And, well, Yugo couldn't really be the judge of something that needed an outside perspective, but the photos all looked... extremely convincing.

"I think that's enough," said Yuto. "I'll send them to him later." He lowered his gaze to the ground and - blushing, definitely blushing, Yugo could somehow tell even though it was too dark to see - said, "We should do this again sometime."

"Yeah!" said Yugo, a bit too loudly, too enthusiastically perhaps, "we definitely should, I had a lot of fun. Shall I drop you off back home on my sweet motorcycle?"

"That would be very nice," said Yuto, and Yugo handed him the helmet. When they both climbed on Yuto's arms were around Yugo, his head resting on his shoulder.

They sped off through the night and Yugo could feel himself smiling, a smile so big and happy he didn’t want to stop.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're curious to see my mental image of these two while writing the fic, I drew it here http://yugiohlesbian.tumblr.com/post/153888150017/ so you could consider it a present to go along with this fic?
> 
> As usual, if you liked it then please leave a comment, it means a lot to me!


End file.
